I Know How to Say
by binnibeans
Summary: There are lots of languages out there, and plenty of ways to say one thing. Who knew there were rules to this stuff?


**A/N:** Written for **Hoshiko**! The title is taken from 3OH!3's song, and while the fic isn't based on it, it is? NOT a songfic. Just … inspired by a song? Also, vocabulary notes are at the bottom. :)

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><p>America wasn't entirely sure how the turn of conversation had come about, but he couldn't say he really minded it. England and he had simply been discussing how to better pronounce the word <em>bagel<em>(which had ended in hilarity on America's end as England tried to form his mouth around America's accent). Somehow, it lead to the use of languages at UN buildings, which somehow wove in discussion about grammar, and he wasn't even sure, anymore. Out of the blue, sitting on America's couch, in the midst of England talking about which languages he would like to see included or excluded in the coming years, America had asked, "How many languages do you speak?"

England appeared a little shocked, blinking, and then looked to be thinking back on it. It was an honest question, and America stared on patiently (kind of…) as he waited for England's answer. Apparently, England had not been asked such a question before.

"I suppose I can communicate in a fair amount of languages…" he answered, still thinking. "English, obviously. French, Latin…. I'm not a master, but I can get by rather well in Spanish and Portuguese. I know very little of either Irish or Scottish Gaelic—"

"What about Welsh?"

"I gave up on that in the twelfth century."

America grinned, laying himself across the other as England went on a tirade about vowels and consonants. Though the subjects often present in whatever Grammarian Heaven England currently resided in were undoubtedly _fascinating_, America found himself thinking more or less of the speaker. It was nice to see an England so passionate about something that wasn't going to backfire too horribly on America. (Like that pudding the other day. …Had that even _been _pudding?)

"Ich liebe dich."

It had caught England by surprise in mid-lecture about voiceless fricatives, and he looked down to see America's head staring up from his lap. He didn't blush; rather, he simply blinked down, a small grin appearing as he continued on. "Ég elska þig."

America responded immediately. "Aishiteru."

"Okay, then voiced," England challenged.

America hesitated, trying to think of a few different phrases to appease England's dare. America was by no means stupid—he himself knew many languages, and he liked to boast more than most. The only issue was that he didn't have such a grasp of fancy terms like England did. He knew what a fricative was, and he could figure out _voiced_ versus voice_less_. As long as England didn't bring in any of the other fancy words, like _velar_ or _alveolar_, things would continue on just fine. So far so good.

"Aš tave myliu!" America proclaimed proudly, smiling wide. "Lithuania taught me that one!"

"Did he, now?" America couldn't tell if that tone was displaying how pleased England was, or … otherwise. It seemed to satisfy the little test, regardless, but something akin to disappointment flashed in England's eyes. "Hmm," he began. "Apparently I won't be able to chastise your gift of tongue—"

America smirked, going to open his mouth only to find England's hand slapped down upon it. He soon grimaced into England's palm.

"But I'm sure you can think of another language that uses the voiced labiodental fricative in its translation of the phrase."

Beneath England's hand, America's lips formed a line, and he gulped as he allowed his eyes to widen. He blinked a few times, feeling his mouth go dry. It just figured, didn't it…. It would be his luck. What was worse was that England probably didn't realize that America wasn't quite as up-to-snuff with all of this fancy sound stuff. He stuck his tongue out some to lick at England's palm. With a look of disgust, England snatched his hand away.

"Wǒ … ài nǐ…?"

"…No," England said, wiping his hand on the knee of America's jeans.

"A-aloha Au Ia`oe…?" America offered a sheepish grin.

This was once more the wrong answer, apparently, made obvious to him when England cried out, "The 'vee' sound is in neither of those!" America had winced a little bit at the volume, _and_ the cut at his inability to comprehend the _voiced labiodental fricative_. Gah, why was there a need for some fancy-schmancy word for the 'vee' sound? Why couldn't England have just said, 'Another phrase that uses the 'vee' sound'? No. Instead, he had to make it harder for America. (At least he now knew what a _voiced labiodental fricative _was. And now that he thought about it, it made total sense what sound it would be—how had it not clicked?)

Well, if that was what England wanted, then fine. It was just a matter of figuring out which other language used the 'vee' sound in that phrase. Of course, it didn't take too long to figure out (though England seemed a little more than impatient); it was the phrase, in a language he used often enough. His cheeks warmed, soon followed by England's. Finally he allowed himself an awkward grin before eventually saying in a shy tone, "I love you."

If possible, England became even redder, and he looked to be struggling to suppress the not-really-a-grin-because it-was-actually-a-very-large-smile. Perhaps it was just the inherent _Britishness_ within him, but he seemed to be taking his sweet old time with this, and America was an impatient young man. In his light exasperation, he poked at England's forehead, his cheeks puffed out. "'_Yeah, America, I love you too!_'"

England's eyebrows furrowed angrily. "Shut it, you prat! I—I was getting there!"

"Well then say it already!"

America captured England's gaze, fixing his stare to keep England's trapped and unable to look away, even in their awkward angle. 'I love you,' wasn't an uncommon phrase between them (especially considering how new their relationship was), though its trading was usually commenced by America as he wasn't quite as _subtle_ about the whole thing as England seemed to be. He never doubted England's affection, knowing the Brit simply wasn't as showy as America was accustomed to being; rather, it was actually quite _fun _to get this bashful side of England to the surface every once in a while. It was even better in this kind of situation, with England being unable to look away.

"I … I love you, too."

England's face was glowing something furious, and his eyes were narrowed. America wasn't sure what out of, but he found it rather _cute_, all things considered. He smiled widely, his teeth shining white, and he pulled England down, closer to him with a laugh, saying things somewhere along the lines of, _Aww, I never knew you felt that way!_ and, _Why didn't you tell me sooner? _just to get a rise out of the other. It worked a little bit, England not really hitting at his chest, and (attempting) to shove America off of his lap at the questions. He soon beat down the blood in his cheeks, trying hard to fix his face with an indignant stare, as though all embarrassment suffered in those last few moments hadn't happened.

It soon didn't matter, however. America was shut up when he realized England had finished closing the distance between them, and all thoughts of silly, fancy words were thrown out the window.

There were more important things to be doing than talking, anyway.

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><p>END<p>

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><p><strong>Notes: <strong>Voiced vs. Voiceless. If you take the sounds of the letters S and Z: The 'sss' sound is just air. The 'zzz' sound needs the help of your vocal chords. (F and V are similar to this.) Labiodental is made of two Latin words: Labio - lip; Dental - teeth. So, lip-to-teeth: labiodental. That would equal the F or V sound, depending on if it's voiced or voiceless. :)

All of those phrases translate to, "I love you," in case you didn't catch on. In order, the languages are German, Icelandic, Japanese, Lithuanian, Mandarin, and Hawai'ian.

...So yeah. Binni, out.


End file.
